2018 Suns Offseason News

[MightyMoog]

I think it'd be a mistake to trade either Bender or Chriss before you see what Igor can do with them and maybe Corliss even more. These poor guys have been under the tutelage of Tyrone Corbin for the last 2 years. As for free agents, the only guy that looks enticing is Marcus Smart and maybe Trevor Ariza.
We're not getting any of the big names, maybe we can try to make a play for Paul George, but I doubt that happens. No sense in going after Capela or Randle at this point. I think we should stay more or less put, unless we can get out from Brandon Knight's contract.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I think it'd be a mistake to trade either Bender or Chriss before you see what Igor can do with them and maybe Corliss even more.

I agree. They've both been so underwhelming that there's no way we'd get any real value for either one. However, this is a make or break year for both of them in the sense that if they don't take a significant leap in development they'll probably be out of the league in 2-3 years.

[SDC]

its milos time...

this works, and throw in a 2nd rounder https://basketball.realgm.com/tradechec ... de/7075085

[O_Gardino]

https://twitter.com/KellanOlson/status/1010017083566903303

What's the next step? I think we clear out some guys before FA. Ulis, Reed, Williams all have non guaranteed deals and I think they're gone.

PG - Knight, Okobo, Harrison
SG - Booker, Daniels
SF - Jackson, Warren, Bridges
PF - Bender, Chriss, Dudley
C - Ayton, Chandler

Don't see a lot of need for Daniels anymore. I could see him getting moved. Also dosent hurt to keep him as an 11th guy. I think you've got to move Warren. If we can combine him with Chriss for a solid vet at the 4, I'd be happy.

Feels like PG could be a target of FA unless we really think Knight is the answer. Would we go after Smart? We could also use Warren as trade bait for a PG and target vet 4's in FA.

I don't think we cut anybody until we are ready to make a trade or sign a FA. They'll try to keep Ulis and Williams if they can.

I think they still need to renounce Alex to clear his cap hold and decide what they want to do about Elfrid. I assume we drop Payton, but there hasn't been any public indication of that. Last we saw, he was cutting his hair by our request.

If both of those guys are gone, then we probably have enough cap space to pursue any free agent we can reasonably hope to get. The problem will come if we want to bring back salary in a trade. And, of course, we have to stay under the 15 man roster limit.

As others have said, I think a trade is very likely. Warren + Chriss for Kevin Love or Warren for Teodosic or something.

[Split T]

Here's what I think we should do:

1. Use some combination of Warren/Chriss/Daniels/Mil Pick to find a steady PG who can shoot, defend his position and can take care of the ball.
2. Sign Trevor Ariza(A 1 year, big salary contract might work)

PG trade options(Kemba Walker, Dennis Schroeder, Darren Collison, Jeremy Lin, Spencer Dinwiddie, Delon Wright, Kyle Lowry, Tyus Jones, Goran Dragic, Malcolm Brogdon, Dejounte Murray, Terry Rozier, Cory Joseph)

A lot of those guys probably aren't available, and a lot of those teams wouldn't be interested in what we have to offer, but I thought I'd cover all the bases.

Let's say we get someone like Collison and sign Ariza, what do we think of:

PG - Collison - Okobo - Ulis
SG - Booker - Knight - Harrison
SF - Jackson - Bridges - Reed
PF - Ariza - Bender - Dudley
C - Ayton - Chandler - Williams

With King and Peters on 2-way deals

[ShelC]

I'm less concerned about PG now because of Knight, potentially Elfrid and now Okobo. Walker isn't what we need and has a huge deal coming his way. Schroeder I like but I think the time to get him was draft night. Collison won't do much for us, Lin is coming off injury, Dragic prob isn't available and is older with a large contract. Jones, Wright, Joseph are all backups. Don't love Murray or Brogdon and Rozier is iffy because of his potential contract.

We have to shake that position out and I'd much rather look for an impact PF to stretch the floor and maybe be a shotblocker for us. Ariza serves no purpose given we have like 7 SFs to find minutes for.

I don't think Love will be available and there's not much else out there. I actually don't like him that much and his contract kind of sucks, but Ibaka might be a good fit if Toronto took back Warren and Chriss. Ibaka's owed 44mil over the next two years, is still a good shotblocker, can hit 3s, provide defensive cover next to Ayton and swing to the 5 when we go "small". Toronto rejuvenates a bit and gets a scorer in Warren and a young athletic big in Chriss to play off Lowry and DeRozen. I don't think they're overly attached to Ibaka and know they need to shake things up a bit.

Ideally you're looking at:

PG - Knight/Payton???, Okobo, Ulis(?)
SG- Booker, Reed
SF - Jackson, Bridges
PF - Ibaka, Bender, Bridges, Dudley
C - Ayton, Ibaka, Chandler

[carey]

Is Ariza able to play PF?

[specialsauce]

We have Bridges and Bender to play the 4. I’m solely focused on a starter at 1 and a backup 2.

[ShelC]

I think you're overrating Bridges a bit at the 4 spot.

[Split T]

Ariza has been playing the 4 for awhile. They start him and Tucker and they are essentially interchangeable at the 3/4

[O_Gardino]

Bridges isn't a 4 at all. Both Jackson and Bridges are just 'Forwards', and if you play them together with Booker, you don't have a power forward on the court. You can do that in stretches and let them switch, but I wouldn't start them both this season.

[Split T]

Collison won't do much for us

I think Collison is underrated, he's nothing special, but he just does his job. He got 12 and 6 last year, he never turns the ball over. He shot 47% from 3 last year and has been over 40% three years in a row. I think he'd be a great stopgap PG to have until Okobo is ready, or we find our future PG if Okobo never pans out.

[Indy]

Collison won't do much for us

I think Collison is underrated, he's nothing special, but he just does his job. He got 12 and 6 last year, he never turns the ball over. He shot 47% from 3 last year and has been over 40% three years in a row. I think he'd be a great stopgap PG to have until Okobo is ready, or we find our future PG if Okobo never pans out.

That is what I want out of a stopgap PG. I really want a +40% 3P shooter, don't turn over the ball, and be a neutral defender.

[Split T]

Collison won't do much for us

I think Collison is underrated, he's nothing special, but he just does his job. He got 12 and 6 last year, he never turns the ball over. He shot 47% from 3 last year and has been over 40% three years in a row. I think he'd be a great stopgap PG to have until Okobo is ready, or we find our future PG if Okobo never pans out.

That is what I want out of a stopgap PG. I really want a +40% 3P shooter, don't turn over the ball, and be a neutral defender.

Yep, not sure what Collison's contract is...I imagine it's cheap, but a straight swap of Warren for Collison makes some sense. Indy added Holiday, who I think is pretty similar to Collison, and should be fairly ready to play now. I think Warren's mid-range scoring could be useful next to two outside shooting backcourt guys in oladipo and Holiday. They've got room on the wing for him with Turner and Sabonis at the 4/5.

It's not great value for Warren as Collison is older and just a short term solution, but I just don't really see a place for Warren moving forward here. Rather give his minutes to Bridges.

[Indy]

Collison won't do much for us

I think Collison is underrated, he's nothing special, but he just does his job. He got 12 and 6 last year, he never turns the ball over. He shot 47% from 3 last year and has been over 40% three years in a row. I think he'd be a great stopgap PG to have until Okobo is ready, or we find our future PG if Okobo never pans out.

That is what I want out of a stopgap PG. I really want a +40% 3P shooter, don't turn over the ball, and be a neutral defender.

Yep, not sure what Collison's contract is...I imagine it's cheap, but a straight swap of Warren for Collison makes some sense. Indy added Holiday, who I think is pretty similar to Collison, and should be fairly ready to play now. I think Warren's mid-range scoring could be useful next to two outside shooting backcourt guys in oladipo and Holiday. They've got room on the wing for him with Turner and Sabonis at the 4/5.

It's not great value for Warren as Collison is older and just a short term solution, but I just don't really see a place for Warren moving forward here. Rather give his minutes to Bridges.

Yeah, if you use two first round picks to take a rookie, he better be able to contribute right away. You need to play him.

[jonh]

Bridges isn't a 4 at all. Both Jackson and Bridges are just 'Forwards', and if you play them together with Booker, you don't have a power forward on the court. You can do that in stretches and let them switch, but I wouldn't start them both this season.

I think you have to treat bridges and Jackson as both a three and a four— Otherwise there’s just not enough minutes to go around at those positions.

Unless of course, you’re also having both of them play substantial time backing up booker at the two spot. We might see several “positionless” lineups this year.

While I’m excited about bridges, we really might have been better off drafting a point guard instead of picking up another forward

[Indy]

Bridges isn't a 4 at all. Both Jackson and Bridges are just 'Forwards', and if you play them together with Booker, you don't have a power forward on the court. You can do that in stretches and let them switch, but I wouldn't start them both this season.

I think you have to treat bridges and Jackson as both a three and a four— Otherwise there’s just not enough minutes to go around at those positions.

Unless of course, you’re also having both of them play substantial time backing up booker at the two spot. We might see several “positionless” lineups this year.

While I’m excited about bridges, we really might have been better off drafting a point guard instead of picking up another forward

I still doubt we acquire a real PF this summer, and I bet we run a lot of time with Booker at the 1, Jackson and Mikal at the 2/3, with Bender and Ayton (or Chriss/Ayton) up front. My guess is we figure that Booker better be able to guard the worst player between 1-2-3 on the other team most nights.

[jonh]

I actually really like that line up. Looks like a nice mix of both offense and defense. Barring any other roster changes, knight, Reed, Warren, Chriss, and Chandler would be the reserve lineup, right?

[carey]

Yep, not sure what Collison's contract is...I imagine it's cheap, but a straight swap of Warren for Collison makes some sense. Indy added Holiday, who I think is pretty similar to Collison, and should be fairly ready to play now. I think Warren's mid-range scoring could be useful next to two outside shooting backcourt guys in oladipo and Holiday. They've got room on the wing for him with Turner and Sabonis at the 4/5.

It's not great value for Warren as Collison is older and just a short term solution, but I just don't really see a place for Warren moving forward here. Rather give his minutes to Bridges.

Just next season at $10M. A straight swap could work.

[Split T]

Bridges isn't a 4 at all. Both Jackson and Bridges are just 'Forwards', and if you play them together with Booker, you don't have a power forward on the court. You can do that in stretches and let them switch, but I wouldn't start them both this season.

I think you have to treat bridges and Jackson as both a three and a four— Otherwise there’s just not enough minutes to go around at those positions.

Unless of course, you’re also having both of them play substantial time backing up booker at the two spot. We might see several “positionless” lineups this year.

While I’m excited about bridges, we really might have been better off drafting a point guard instead of picking up another forward

What PG was available for us to draft? I honestly think we got the best PG left at 16 with pick 31. Trae went 5 and Sexton went 8. Shai went 11, but we obviously had Bridges ahead of him on our board.